Wednesday, October 31, 2012

My husband has been putting together an outdoor Halloween display for 3 years now. It's kind of become our thing. The kids are starting to know about 'the place with the Halloween yard'.

The past two years he made a Halloween tunnel by building a wall covered in tarps along our walkway and placing all sorts of creepiness inside with gloomy lights and fog.

This year he really wanted to create a giant spider and web. We settled with a sort of graveyard look with a giant spider web covering it all.

Anyways, here's the pictures I took. Some during the day, some in the evening.

He put the the fence together with small pieces of 1x2 and brad nails. Then sprayed (messily, to create the dirty/blotchy look) it with black and brown spray paint

The web was made with 1/4 inch white rope and zip-ties. Then he attached limbs, animals and bones in the web. They were wrapped with some of the webbing (you know, that stringy stuff you buy to create your own webs), but then we got a load of snow that sort of washed it all away).

A few of the headstones.

The fence of reaching hands.

The warning sign.

He placed a wheelbarrow with skeletons and bones inside along with dirt (and a few red string lights) in the graveyard as well.

His moving coffin. It had a sensor on it so when you passed by, the lid would lift up and down as if someone were trying to get out. He even attached the fake arms sticking out to make it look more realistic. Kinda neat. The kids loved it though.

Ah. The ginormous spider. This guy lowered and raised 2 feet on a string (rope).

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Making your own Halloween costume is a fun
and exciting way to celebrate the holiday. Homemade costumes often look better
than the generic costumes that are sold in shops. They have a personal touch
and a flair that is lacking in costumes that are sold in Halloween stores. You
will also have the reassurance of knowing that no one else at the party will be
wearing the same costume that you are wearing. For these reasons, we highly
recommend creating your own Halloween ensemble rather than purchasing one.

One of the most important aspects of any
masquerade costume is the accessories. Many people choose to purchase these
items, but these too, can be made from scratch. If you plan on dressing like a
witch this Halloween, we have the perfect idea for a witch necklace. This little beauty is made
from bottle caps and will be certain to draw attention and start conversations.
The necklace is simple to construct and can be made in a wide variety of ways
to express your own originality. This necklace is also suitable to be worn with
other costumes, so you will want to keep it for the coming years.

The first step to constructing your own
bottle cap necklace is to acquire a bunch of bottle caps. The best types of
caps are found on beer and soda bottles. Many beer bottles will print on their
caps, so you can search for some of the more exotic looking caps. There are
even caps with witch themes already on the bottle. In addition, many beer
companies will print special caps for this time of year, so be on the lookout
for these. Once you have acquired your caps, you have some choices to make. You
can leave the caps as they are, or you can pound them flat, so that the little
ridges on the cap open like a flower. If you plan on pounding them flat, be
certain to wear some protective eye covering so you can protect your sight.

You simply lay the cap down on a hard
surface and then smack it with a hammer until the cap is completely flat. Once
this is done, the cap will be unrecognizable as a cap and will simply appear as
a metal disc. You can then color the caps if you like, or you can leave them in
their original form. If you plan on coloring them, use dark colors such as
purple and black. You may want to add a splash of pink, if that color is
included in your outfit. The caps can be sprayed with spray paint or painted
with acrylics. You can also splash red paint on the colored caps, so that they
appear as if they are covered in blood. Another great idea is to glue tiny
pictures into the caps. This can be done with a clear acrylic. Pictures can be
clipped from magazines or any other sources that you may have around.

Once you have colored and decorated your
caps, you need to drive a hole in each one. This can be done with a hammer and
a nail. Place the nail in the center or on the top of the cap and strike firmly
with the hammer. After each has a hole, you can then string the caps with the
material of your choice. Your necklace is certain to add to your outfit and
become quite the conversation piece at the party.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

I mean, I might as well, considering it's snowed for 2 days here already. And not the wimpy snow that melts once it hits the ground. The big, fluffy white stuff that coats everything.

Don't get me wrong, it beautiful, it sets the tone for Christmas.. but that's the thing. Halloween hasn't even passed us by yet. I'd prefer to wait until the kids have done the trick or treating and I'm putting away all the spooky decor.

That aside, I still can't wait for the Christmas season. I love the sparkly lights and the beautiful trees.

So I was cruising through one of my favorite blogs, Ruffles & Stuff, and noticed she was fancying up some pumpkins (among other things) with glitter. She also glittered her tea light holder. Which got me really excited. Does anyone else have a butt load of those tacky glass tealight holders?

I remember being a teen and stocking up on those at the dollar store to add the candle ambiance to our bedroom.

Apparently, I still had them lying around collecting dust in the basement boxes.

At last. They have a purpose!

So I got busy. And created these.

Makes me wonder why I never thought of it sooner!

Here's how to do it.

Get your mod podge out, some glitter (I decided to stick with simple silver to go with ALL my Christmas decor), your tealight holders, a brush and plastic container to contain some of the mess. Oh also some clear coat for the end.

First off, brush the mod podge over the bottom portion of the tealight holder.

Sprinkle on the glitter (hold it over the plastic container) and coat heavy for a dazzling look! Then tap a few times to get rid of the excess.

Set aside to dry with the glittered side up. If you are doing a bunch like me, continue on with the rest.

This is why the plastic container is great. After doing a few, you'll have a ton of glitter at the bottom of your container. Simply shake to the bottom corner and pour it back into your glitter bottle.

Once dry, which takes about 20-30 minutes. You can do the tops.

Coat the top to where it meets tea light and to where you added glitter to the bottom.

Add your glitter. Tap off excess.

And set to dry.

Once they're all dry, you can spray your candle holders with a clear coat. I stuffed the candle hole with newspaper.

Then sprayed them with my clear coat finish.

I gave them all about 2 coats of clear coat since glitter likes to sprinkle everywhere.

And look how sparkling they look with a candle.

I know it looks a little off with the pink and red tea lights but that's all I had on hand.

And if the kids are near, be sure to pop in your battery powered tea lights (love those!).